I just finished Stephen King's "Joyland". I read King when I was younger (maybe in my teens and '20s) and stopped for a while. I must say that I like the cover art - a throwback to the pulp magazines and comics of the '50's.
I read "1963" which I though was excellent, and got back into reading a few Kings. Unlike the earlier books (or my memory of them, anyway), the newer King books don't rely as much on the horror/shock as on telling a story that contains an element of the supernatural.
Joyland fit that bill - the story was basically a story told retrospectively of a summer spent as an amusement part worker, dumped by first girlfriend, making new friends for the summer, eveyone leaving the following fall for various homes and campuses.
That story works, and is a nice simple read. The "supernatural" element is that the park had a murder a few years before and the victim has been seen in ghostly form on the ride that she was killed on (not really a spoiler yet, that is 1st chapter setup up for the book).
The main character meets some interesting folks and learns a little of carnival life - the handing off of running speeding machines to untrained summer help with a "here you go" training session, having to perform in the heat of the summer, having to treat sometimes rude and abusive customers with decency...
The story does end with some action - running around in the rain, firearms, etc. but is doesn't fall into the horror category - the action is more along the lines of a typical spy or detective novel shootout - the supernatural elements just give it a Stephen King touch.
Not a bad book to spend a few hours reading.
Spoilers***
The supernatural appears in a number of places - the ghost of the murder vicitm, the palm reader of the carnival who seems to have some real ability along with the showmanship, and a young boy with muscular dystrophy who also has some psychic ability.
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